The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1887-02-16
Meetings Of the Board of Agricul-
ture at Rochester.

dolph, and found it had not been as
certained or decided where the meet
ings were to be held. 1t was finally set
tied that they should be held in the
Methodist church. No session was held
until afternoon, when the meeting was
opened with about twenty-five persons
in attendance. Mr.. Messer delivered
an address of welcome, which was
largely review of the dairy situation,
in which he advocated creamery rather
than dairy butter-making.
After this came the paper of Mr..
Smith of the board on "The Dairy
and Dairy Interest" The dairy is the
chief interest in the state, and there
has been less progress in dairy
methods than in any other class of
business. and less thought and brain
work has been given to the subject.
There has been but little advance in the
business since the days of our fathers.
There has been some improvement in
implements, but none are perfect.
There has been little care or thought
given to breeding; nothing to compare
with the breeding of sheep and horses
Farmers should feed as they breed; lack
ing that, cows will revert to the original
type and be no better than a scrub,
while a scrub may be greatly improved
by good feeding. In breeding the male
is of the first Importance, and great at
tention should be given it. The fol-
lowing points should be looked for in
good cow good frame and good
feeder. No COW was ever good mixer
which was not a good feeder. He pre-
fered the raising of calves to buying,
and gave directions for raising them.
The milk fed while young was only
warm and sweet milk, but when four
or five weeks old they may be fed sour
milk, and need not be weaned till four
months old. He would feed no grain
if there was plenty of grass. Heifers
should come in at twenty-four to twenty
six months old. Cows should be treated
carefully for two weeks before coming
in, fed some roots and never subjected to
physical hardship. After the cows come
in they should be fed their first milking;
after that they should be fed good, but
not too heavy, feed, and as soon as
fresh grass is seen on the warm hill
sides they should be turned out to get
gradually used to their summer feed.
The most trying times for COWS is from
the middle of July till September,
unless extra feed is given, and some
adaptation of soiling would be profit
able. Every dairyman should raise
fodder-corn for an additional feed or to
cut and dry for the winter. 1t should
not be planted too thickly, and sweet
corn is much better than the southern
corn, which was formerly sown. When
cows come to the barn, which should
be as soon as frosts come, additional
feed should be given; as winter APP
proaches more care and more feed
should be given, and in stormy weather
they should be let out only to drink.
He advocated the feeding of good corn
fodder as being as valuable as the grass
which would grow on the same land.
A COW which stands out in the cold and
shivers is not a healthy animal and
will not give milk tit to eat, and if the
milk was fed to a child it would very
likely kill it. 1t is not fit for any use.
The same is true where the system of
a COW is filled with the odors of the
stable or the steaming manure in the
cellar. Farmers should not feed for
the present only, but for future results.
Grain fed in March will show in June
as well as in March. He gave the sta
tistics of the numbers and yields of
cows and instances of yields of individ-
ual diaries. Mr.. Douglas of Shore
ham has a herd of thirty-fve cows
which yield three hundred twenty-five
pounds per COW. This he has accom-
plished by breeding and good feed. He
Jonhtc if tho Loot fiftv poupIc of buttar
per COW is made at profit, as Mr..
Douglas feeds grain eight months in the
year.
Question" You spoke of garget.
What do you mean by garget?"
AnSwer-"About anything which ails
a cows udder is called garget."
Question:" How do you test your
cows ?"
Answer-" By test tubes and noting
the amount of cream"
Question:" What of the Holsteins?"
AnSCer-" think them too large for
these billy towns"
Question:" What would you consider
the best?"
AnSver-" breed Jerseys; have no
full-bloods, but high grades. l find
them hardy enough and gentle"
Mr. Pierce: eff we sell our poor
cows to the neighbors, as Mr.. Messer
commends, some of us must have poor
cows"
Mr. Davis " My business is keeping
a dairy not for making butter, but for
making the most milk from a given
amount of feed" He bought his cows,
but did not get the best. The butter
dairy will bring up the fertility of the
farm. He advocated more care in Sc
lecting sires, and then keeping them;
would not sell them as soon as they are
three years old. He gave the external
indications of good COW, which we
reported at the Cabot meeting.
EVENING MEETING.
The evening was devoted to an adj
dress by the lecturer of the National
Grange. The grange is for the benefit
of the farmer. When the farmers have
good crops all the other occupa-
tons fourish-the merchant and the
manufacturer flourish-and so the
grange has broader field than the
merchants and manufacturers asso-
citation, which works for their interests
only. The grangeis the only organiza-
ton which has ever taught the farmer
Ill hanI Inn,